Digital Commons Network^™

The Logic Behind Neural Control Of Breathing Pattern, Alona Ben-Tal, Yunjiao Wang, Maria C.A. Leite

Faculty Publications

The respiratory rhythm generator is spectacular in its ability to support a wide range of activities and adapt to changing environmental conditions, yet its operating mechanisms remain elusive. We show how selective control of inspiration and expiration times can be achieved in a new representation of the neural system (called a Boolean network). The new framework enables us to predict the behavior of neural networks based on properties of neurons, not their values. Hence, it reveals the logic behind the neural mechanisms that control the breathing pattern. Our network mimics many features seen in the respiratory network such as the …

An Approach To Fast Multi-Robot Exploration In Buildings With Inaccessible Spaces, Matt Mcneill, Damian Lyons

Faculty Publications

The rapid exploration of unknown environments is a common application of autonomous multi-robot teams. For some types of exploration missions, a mission designer may possess some rudimentary knowledge about the area to be explored. For example, the dimensions of a building may be known, but not its floor layout or the location of furniture and equipment inside. For this type of mission, the Space- Based Potential Field (SBPF) method is an approach to multirobot exploration which leverages a priori knowledge of area bounds to determine robot motion. Explored areas and obstacles exert a repulsive force, and unexplored areas exert an …

Beneficial Mutations For Carotenoid Production Identified From Laboratory-Evolved Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Avinash Godara, Maria Alejandra Gomez Rodriguez, Joshua Weatherston, George Peabody, Hung-Jen Wu, Katy Kao

Faculty Publications

Adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) is a powerful tool used to increase strain fitness in the presence of environmental stressors. If production and strain fitness can be coupled, ALE can be used to increase product formation. In earlier work, carotenoids hyperproducing mutants were obtained using an ALE strategy. Here, de novo mutations were identified in hyperproducers, and reconstructed mutants were explored to determine the exact impact of each mutation on production and tolerance. A single mutation in YMRCTy1-3 conferred increased carotenoid production, and when combined with other beneficial mutations led to further increased β-carotene production. Findings also suggest that the ALE …

From Design To Delivery: Teaching Supply Chain Management To Ib Majors, Emmanuel T. Kodzi

Faculty Publications

Curricular development is critical for preparing students in a coordinated fashion for life after graduation – especially when their roles will involve cross-border business decisions. The design of specific courses in any curriculum must be purposeful in terms of what is taught, how it is taught, and how all the course components fit together. For a supply chain management course targeted at international business (IB) students, one key purpose is to understand how competitiveness is developed across the extended enterprise, rather than within the confines of individual companies. This “winning together” view helps foster capabilities for connectedness and cooperation in …

Development And Evaluation Of A One-Step Multiplex Real-Time Taqman® Rt-Qpcr Assay For The Detection And Genotyping Of Equine G3 And G14 Rotaviruses In Fecal Samples, Mariano Carossino, Maria E. Barrandeguy, Erdal Erol, Yanqiu Li, Udeni B. R. Balasuriya

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Understanding Tidal Marsh Trajectories: Evaluation Of Multiple Indicators Of Marsh Persistence, Kerstin Wasson, Neil K. Ganju, Zafer Defne, Charlie Endris, Tracy Elsey-Quirk, Karen M. Thorne, Chase M. Freeman, Glenn Guntenspergen, Daniel J. Nowacki, Kenneth B. Raposa

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Population Connectivity Of Pelagic Megafauna In The Cuba-Mexico-United States Triangle, Jay R. Rooker, Michael A. Dance, R. J.David Wells, Matthew J. Ajemian, Barbara A. Block, Michael R. Castleton, J. Marcus Drymon, Brett J. Falterman, James S. Franks, Neil Hammerschlag, Jill M. Hendon, Eric R. Hoffmayer, Richard T. Kraus, Jennifer A. Mckinney, David H. Secor, Gregory W. Stunz, John F. Walter

Faculty Publications

The timing and extent of international crossings by billfishes, tunas, and sharks in the Cuba-Mexico-United States (U.S.) triangle was investigated using electronic tagging data from eight species that resulted in >22,000 tracking days. Transnational movements of these highly mobile marine predators were pronounced with varying levels of bi- or tri-national population connectivity displayed by each species. Billfishes and tunas moved throughout the Gulf of Mexico and all species investigated (blue marlin, white marlin, Atlantic bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna) frequently crossed international boundaries and entered the territorial waters of Cuba and/or Mexico. Certain sharks (tiger shark, scalloped hammerhead) displayed prolonged periods …

Educational Gerrymandering: Money, Motives, And Constitutional Rights, Derek Black

Faculty Publications

Public school funding plummeted following the Great Recession and failed to recover over the next decade, prompting strikes and protests across the nation. Courts did almost nothing to stop the decline. While a majority of state supreme courts recognize a constitutional right to an adequate or equal education, they increasingly struggle to enforce the right. That right could be approaching a tipping point. Either it evolves, or risks becoming irrelevant.

In the past, courts have focused almost exclusively on the adequacy and equity of funding for at-risk students, demanding that states provide more resources. Courts have failed to ask the …

The Promise And Peril Of Using Disability Law As A Tool For School Reform, Claire Raj

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Global Impact Of A Business School Degree: International Alumni Voice, K. James Hartshorn, Maureen Snow Andrade, Norman W. Evans

Faculty Publications

Business schools in English-dominant countries host significant numbers of international students. In the U.S., where few students remain in the country to work, little is known about the role of English language proficiency and employer-valued outcomes on students’ professional success. This study reports survey findings from international alumni on the development and impact of learning outcomes, particularly English proficiency. Participants felt they had acquired outcomes valued by employers and reported using English in their work. The study indicates a need for more institution-specific studies to increase knowledge of a population with a significant presence in schools of business.

Pay Now, Play Later?: Youth And Adolescent Collision Sports, Vivian E. Hamilton

Faculty Publications

The routine and repeated head impacts experienced by athletes in a range of sports can inflict microscopic brain injuries that accumulate over time, even in the absence of concussion. Indeed, cumulative exposure to head impacts—not number of concussions—is the strongest predictor of sports-related degenerative brain disease in later life. The observable symptoms of disease appear years or decades after initial injury and resemble those of other mental-health conditions such as depression and dementia. The years-long interval between earlier, seemingly minor, head impacts and later brain disease has long obscured the connection between the two.

Risk of injury differs across demographics, …

Multilevel Analysis In Rural Cancer Control: A Conceptual Framework And Methodological Implications, Whitney Zahnd, Sara L. Mclafferty, Jan M. Eberth

Faculty Publications

Rural populations experience a myriad of cancer disparities ranging from lower screening rates to higher cancer mortality rates. These disparities are due in part to individual-level characteristics like age and insurance status, but the physical and social context of rural residence also plays a role. Our objective was two-fold: 1) to develop a multilevel conceptual framework describing how rural residence and relevant micro, macro, and supra-macro factors can be considered in evaluating disparities across the cancer control continuum and 2) to outline the unique considerations of multilevel statistical modeling in rural cancer research. We drew upon several formative frameworks that …

In Vivo Imaging Of D2 Receptors And Corticosteroids Predict Behavioural Responses To Captivity Stress In A Wild Bird, Christine R. Lattin, Devin P. Merullo, Lauren V. Riters, Richard E. Carson

Faculty Publications

© 2019, The Author(s). Individual physiological variation may underlie individual differences in behaviour in response to stressors. This study tested the hypothesis that individual variation in dopamine and corticosteroid physiology in wild house sparrows (Passer domesticus, n = 15) would significantly predict behaviour and weight loss in response to a long-term stressor, captivity. We found that individuals that coped better with captivity (fewer anxiety-related behaviours, more time spent feeding, higher body mass) had lower baseline and higher stress-induced corticosteroid titres at capture. Birds with higher striatal D2 receptor binding (examined using positron emission tomography (PET) with 11C-raclopride 24 h post-capture) …

Do Global Regulators Hold The Key To Production Of Bacterial Secondary Metabolites?, Sudarshan Singh Thapa, Anne Grove

Faculty Publications

© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The emergence of multiple antibiotic resistant bacteria has pushed the available pool of antibiotics to the brink. Bacterial secondary metabolites have long been a valuable resource in the development of antibiotics, and the genus Burkholderia has recently emerged as a source of novel compounds with antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-cancer activities. Genome mining has contributed to the identification of biosynthetic gene clusters, which encode enzymes that are responsible for synthesis of such secondary metabolites. Unfortunately, these large gene clusters generally remain silent or cryptic under normal laboratory settings, which creates a hurdle …

Evolution Patterns Of Peg3 And H19-Icr, Joomyeong Kim

Faculty Publications

© 2018 Elsevier Inc. Mammalian imprinted domains are regulated through small genomic regions termed Imprinting Control Regions (ICRs). In the current study, the evolution patterns of the ICRs of Peg3 and H19-imprinted domains were analyzed using the genomic sequences derived from a large number of mammals. The results indicated that multiple YY1 and CTCF binding sites are localized within the Peg3 and H19-ICR in all the mammals tested. The numbers of YY1 and CTCF binding sites are variable among individual species, yet positively correlate with the presence of tandem repeats within the Peg3 and H19-ICRs. Thus, multiple YY1 and CTCF …

Local Adaptation Of A Dominant Coastal Tree To Freshwater Availability And Solar Radiation Suggested By Genomic And Ecophysiological Approaches, Mariana Vargas Cruz, Gustavo Maruyama Mori, Caroline Signori-Müller, Carla Cristina Da Silva, Dong Ha Oh, Maheshi Dassanayake, Maria Imaculada Zucchi, Rafael Silva Oliveira, Anete Pereira De Souza

Faculty Publications

© 2019, The Author(s). Local adaptation is often a product of environmental variations in geographical space and has implications for biodiversity conservation. We investigated the role of latitudinal heterogeneity in climate on the organization of genetic and phenotypic variation in the dominant coastal tree Avicennia schaueriana. In a common garden experiment, samples from an equatorial region, with pronounced seasonality in precipitation, accumulated less biomass, and showed lower stomatal conductance and transpiration, narrower xylem vessels, smaller leaves and higher reflectance of long wavelengths by the stem epidermis than samples from a subtropical region, with seasonality in temperature and no dry season. …

Combinatorial Delivery Of Mirna-Nanoparticle Conjugates In Human Adipose Stem Cells For Amplified Osteogenesis, Mohammad Abu-Laban, Prakash Hamal, Julien H. Arrizabalaga, Anoosha Forghani, Asela S. Dikkumbura, Raju R. Kumal, Louis H. Haber, Daniel J. Hayes

Faculty Publications

© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim It is becoming more apparent in tissue engineering applications that fine temporal control of multiple therapeutics is desirable to modulate progenitor cell fate and function. Herein, the independent temporal control of the co-delivery of miR-148b and miR-21 mimic plasmonic nanoparticle conjugates to induce osteogenic differentiation of human adipose stem cells (hASCs), in a de novo fashion, is described. By applying a thermally labile retro-Diels–Alder caging and linkage chemistry, these miRNAs can be triggered to de-cage serially with discrete control of activation times. The method relies on illumination of the nanoparticles at …

Efficacy Of Reduced Rates Of Chlorantraniliprole Seed Treatment On Insect Pests Of Irrigated Drill-Seeded Rice, James M. Villegas, Blake E. Wilson, Michael J. Stout

Faculty Publications

© 2019 Society of Chemical Industry Background: For the past decade, insecticidal seed treatment has been the most widely used control tactic against insect pests of rice (Oryza sativa L.) in the USA. Seed treatments are used primarily to control the most economically important early-season pest of rice, the rice water weevil (Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus Kuschel). This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of reduced rates of chlorantraniliprole seed treatment against the rice water weevil, fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith), and sugarcane borer (Diatraea saccharalis F.) under field and laboratory conditions. Concentrations of chlorantraniliprole in plant tissues were determined …

Plant-Mediated Interactions Among Above-Ground And Below-Ground Life Stages Of A Root-Feeding Weevil, Emily C. Kraus, Michael J. Stout

Faculty Publications

© 2019 The Royal Entomological Society 1. Interactions among herbivores mediated by plant responses to herbivore injury may have large impacts on herbivore population densities. Responses may persist for weeks after injury and may affect not only the initial (inducing) herbivore, but also herbivores that are spatially or temporally separated from the initial attacker. 2. In many plant–insect interactions, multiple life stages of the insect may be associated with the same plant, and these various stages may interact indirectly with one another via induced responses. The rice water weevil (RWW), Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus, a serious global pest of rice, is one …

Effects Of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi On Rice-Herbivore Interactions Are Soil-Dependent, Lina Bernaola, Michael J. Stout

Faculty Publications

© 2019, The Author(s). The effect of soil type on establishment of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, and their effects on plant growth and resistance to rice pests are poorly understood. We investigated the effects of inoculation with AM fungi on rice plants in two different unsterilized field soils under greenhouse and field conditions in two consecutive years in Louisiana, United States. We tested whether inoculation with AM fungi in the two soils changed plant biomass, nutrient concentration, resistance to pests, and yields. Inoculation with a commercial formulation of AM fungi increased root colonization by fungi in all soils, regardless of …

Direct And Indirect Effects Of Herbicides On Insect Herbivores In Rice, Oryza Sativa, Emily C. Kraus, Michael J. Stout

Faculty Publications

© 2019, The Author(s). Densities of insect pests in agricultural communities may be affected by herbicides commonly used for weed management via several routes. First, herbicides may cause direct mortality to insects present both during and immediately following application. Second, herbicides may induce plant defenses that increase resistance to insect herbivores. Third, herbicides may alter the quantity and composition of weed populations, which in turn may change the structure of insect communities found subsequently in the crop. This study was designed to investigate the effects of an array of herbicides on the densities of several major pests found in rice …

Analysis Of Mrna Abundance For Histone Variants, Histone- And Dna-Modifiers In Bovine In Vivo And In Vitro Oocytes And Embryos, J. Duan, L. Zhu, H. Dong, X. Zheng, Z. Jiang, J. Chen, X. C. Tian

Faculty Publications

© 2019, The Author(s). Transcript abundance of histone variants, modifiers of histone and DNA in bovine in vivo oocytes and embryos were measured as mean transcripts per million (TPM). Six of 14 annotated histone variants, 8 of 52 histone methyl-transferases, 5 of 29 histone de-methylases, 5 of 20 acetyl-transferases, 5 of 19 de-acetylases, 1 of 4 DNA methyl-transferases and 0 of 3 DNA de-methylases were abundant (TPM >50) in at least one stage studied. Overall, oocytes and embryos contained more varieties of mRNAs for histone modification than for DNA. Three expression patterns were identified for histone modifiers: (1) transcription before …

Industry Versus Government Regulation Of Food Date Labels: Observed Adherence To Industry-Endorsed Phrases, Brian E. Roe, Danyi Qi, Kathryn E. Bender, Julia Hilty

Faculty Publications

© 2019 by the authors. A leading factor in the creation of avoidable household food waste is confusion about food date labels. In the United States, date labels are largely unregulated, resulting in a plethora of date label phrases used in commerce. Federal regulation has been proposed but never passed, while both industry and government have provided voluntary guidance on preferred label phrases. We study food producer adherence to the label phrases endorsed by the Trading Partner Alliance (TPA, an industry group), which includes "Use By" for perishable products subject to a material degradation of critical performance or potential food …

Morphologic Adjustments Of Actively Evolving Highly Curved Neck Cutoffs, Derek Richards, Kory Konsoer

Faculty Publications

Neck cutoffs and their resultant oxbow lakes are important and prominent features of riverine landscapes. Detailed field-based research focusing on the morphologic evolution of neck cutoffs is currently insufficient to fully characterize cutoff evolution. High-resolution bathymetric data were collected over 3 years for the purpose of determining channel morphology and morphologic change on three actively evolving neck cutoffs. Results indicate the following general trends in morphologic adjustment: (1) a longitudinal bar in the upstream meander limb that develops near the entrance to the abandoned bend; (2) a deep scour hole in the downstream meander limb immediately downstream of the cutoff …

Anti-Viral Immunity In The Tumor Microenvironment: Implications For The Rational Design Of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Oncolytic Virotherapy, Paul J.F. Rider, Ifeanyi K. Uche, Larissa Sweeny, Konstantin G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

© 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Purpose of Review: The design of novel herpes simplex type I (HSV-1)–derived oncolytic virotherapies is a balancing act between safety, immunogenicity, and replicative potential. We have undertaken this review to better understand how these considerations can be incorporated into rational approaches to the design of novel herpesvirus oncolytic virotherapies. Recent Findings: Several recent papers have demonstrated that enhancing the potential of HSV-1 oncolytic viruses to combat anti-viral mechanisms present in the tumor microenvironment leads to greater efficacy than their parental viruses. Summary: It is not entirely clear how the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment affects oncolytic …

Identification And Visualization Of Functionally Important Domains And Residues In Herpes Simplex Virus Glycoprotein K(Gk) Using A Combination Of Phylogenetics And Protein Modeling, Paul J.F. Rider, Lyndon M. Coghill, Misagh Naderi, Jeremy M. Brown, Michal Brylinski, Konstantin G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

© 2019, The Author(s). Alphaherpesviruses are a subfamily of herpesviruses that include the significant human pathogens herpes simplex viruses (HSV) and varicella zoster virus (VZV). Glycoprotein K (gK), conserved in all alphaherpesviruses, is a multi-membrane spanning virion glycoprotein essential for virus entry into neuronal axons, virion assembly, and pathogenesis. Despite these critical functions, little is known about which gK domains and residues are most important for maintaining these functions across all alphaherpesviruses. Herein, we employed phylogenetic and structural analyses including the use of a novel model for evolutionary rate variation across residues to predict conserved gK functional domains. We found …

Identification And Visualization Of Functionally Important Domains And Residues In Herpes Simplex Virus Glycoprotein K(Gk) Using A Combination Of Phylogenetics And Protein Modeling, Paul J.F. Rider, Lyndon M. Coghill, Misagh Naderi, Jeremy M. Brown, Michal Brylinski, Konstantin G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

© 2019, The Author(s). Alphaherpesviruses are a subfamily of herpesviruses that include the significant human pathogens herpes simplex viruses (HSV) and varicella zoster virus (VZV). Glycoprotein K (gK), conserved in all alphaherpesviruses, is a multi-membrane spanning virion glycoprotein essential for virus entry into neuronal axons, virion assembly, and pathogenesis. Despite these critical functions, little is known about which gK domains and residues are most important for maintaining these functions across all alphaherpesviruses. Herein, we employed phylogenetic and structural analyses including the use of a novel model for evolutionary rate variation across residues to predict conserved gK functional domains. We found …

One Week Of Continuous Corticosterone Exposure Impairs Hepatic Metabolic Flexibility, Promotes Islet Β-Cell Proliferation, And Reduces Physical Activity In Male C57bl/6 J Mice, Susan J. Burke, Heidi M. Batdorf, Tai Yu Huang, Joseph W. Jackson, Katarina A. Jones, Thomas M. Martin, Kristen E. Rohli, Michael D. Karlstad, Tim E. Sparer, David H. Burk, Shawn R. Campagna, Robert C. Noland, Paul L. Soto, J. Jason Collier

Faculty Publications

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Clinical glucocorticoid use, and diseases that produce elevated circulating glucocorticoids, promote drastic changes in body composition and reduction in whole body insulin sensitivity. Because steroid-induced diabetes is the most common form of drug-induced hyperglycemia, we investigated mechanisms underlying the recognized phenotypes associated with glucocorticoid excess. Male C57BL/6 J mice were exposed to either 100ug/mL corticosterone (cort) or vehicle in their drinking water. Body composition measurements revealed an increase in fat mass with drastically reduced lean mass during the first week (i.e., seven days) of cort exposure. Relative to the vehicle control group, mice receiving cort had …

Multiphoton Quantum-State Engineering Using Conditional Measurements, Omar S. Magaña-Loaiza, Roberto De J. León-Montiel, Armando Perez-Leija, Alfred B. U’Ren, Chenglong You, Kurt Busch, Adriana E. Lita, Sae Woo Nam, Richard P. Mirin, Thomas Gerrits

Faculty Publications

The quantum theory of electromagnetic radiation predicts characteristic statistical fluctuations for light sources as diverse as sunlight, laser radiation, and molecule fluorescence. Indeed, these underlying statistical fluctuations of light are associated with the fundamental physical processes behind their generation. In this contribution, we experimentally demonstrate that the manipulation of the quantum electromagnetic fluctuations of two-mode squeezed vacuum states leads to a family of quantum-correlated multiphoton states with tunable mean photon numbers and degree of correlation. Our technique relies on the use of conditional measurements to engineer the excitation mode of the field through the simultaneous subtraction of photons from two-mode …

Nonlinear Xuv Signal Generation Probed By Transient Grating Spectroscopy With Attosecond Pulses, Ashley P. Fidler, Seth J. Camp, Erika R. Warrick, Etienne Bloch, Hugo J.B. Marroux, Daniel M. Neumark, Kenneth J. Schafer, Mette B. Gaarde, Stephen R. Leone

Faculty Publications

Nonlinear spectroscopies are utilized extensively for selective measurements of chemical dynamics in the optical, infrared, and radio-frequency regimes. The development of these techniques for extreme ultraviolet (XUV) light sources facilitates measurements of electronic dynamics on attosecond timescales. Here, we elucidate the temporal dynamics of nonlinear signal generation by utilizing a transient grating scheme with a subfemtosecond XUV pulse train and two few-cycle near-infrared pulses in atomic helium. Simultaneous detection of multiple diffraction orders reveals delays of ≥1.5 fs in higher-order XUV signal generation, which are reproduced theoretically by solving the coupled Maxwell–Schrödinger equations and with a phase grating model. The …